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Central Florida head coach Johnny Dawkins, a former all-time Duke basketball guard and longtime assistant under Mike Krzyzewski, has guided the program to the NCAA Tournament only once, ending in a dramatic Round of 32 defeat at the buzzer to the 2018-19 Blue Devils.
That season marked the second 24-win campaign in his first three years at the helm. However, the Knights haven't reached 20 wins in a season since.
At 9-3 this go-round but with no victories over high-major opponents, Dawkins' eighth UCF squad likely needs a few handfuls of impressive wins across its inaugural Big 12 schedule — a daunting slate starting with four currently ranked foes in its first five games — to have any shot at earning an at-large bid to the Big Dance.
And on Monday, Burner Ball college basketball insider "Trilly Donovan" placed the Duke basketball great on his 13-deep "High-Major Hot Seat" breakdown with the following brief explanation:
"Sources say it’s tournament or bust for Johnny Dawkins."
Dawkins, Coach K's first blockbuster recruit, helped lead the 1985-86 Blue Devils to the national championship game as a senior. He finished his college career as Duke's all-time leading scorer (now No. 2 with 2,556 points). Then, he played nine years in the NBA before returning to Durham and spending a decade on Krzyzewski's staff.
In 2008, Dawkins became head coach at Stanford, where he remained until accepting the UCF job in 2016.
As a head coach, he has compiled a 296-205 overall record (59.1 percent) and two NCAA Tournament appearances (2014 at Stanford and 2019 at UCF).
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